Explore human heritage

Our mission and projects

Our world’s cultural heritage is threatened. Looting, urbanisation, mass tourism, armed conflict, and climate change damage and destroy irreplaceable sites where cultures emerged, languages developed, civilisations thrived. These imperilled heritage sites embody humanity’s rich cultural diversity. It is crucial that we document and preserve them now. Iconem’s mission is to further conservation of these endangered places by digitising them for exploration and study, today and tomorrow. Our expert team travels the globe, combining the large-scale scanning capacity of drones and the photorealistic quality of 3D to create digital replicas of our most treasured places, record them for future generations, and champion them today.

About

Founded in 2013, Iconem is an innovative startup that specialises in the digitisation of endangered cultural heritage sites in 3D. We work with international organisations, national governments, local authorities, and world class museums such as UNESCO, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, the Sultanate of Oman, the City of Paris, and the Louvre. We design site-specific architectural 3D models; large-scale urban and rural 3D models; museum exhibitions; and training for local professionals.

Contribute

If you want to support our work, you can help us ! Send your digitised photographies of heritage sites all around the world to contact(@)iconem.com. We will use the pictures within our photogrammetric process or as scientific archives in order to protect and preserve the memory of endangered heritage sites.

Aleppo, Syria, has been the site of major fighting. Its old city is also a UNESCO World Heritage site of incalculable cultural value. The impressive citadel of Aleppo overlooking the city; the vast souk, one of the largest covered markets in the world; and the 12th-century Great Umayyad Mosque are especially important culturally and sustained heavy damage. It was imperative that these sites be recorded before they suffer further destruction. Iconem worked with the Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums of Syria in 2017 to document these treasured sites. Using drones, our team scanned thousands of square metres. This data was used to reconstruct a 3D model of the old city; individual 3D models of the citadel, the souk, and the Great Umayyad Mosque; and an orthophoto map of the city centre. These resources document the current state of damage. They are tools crucial to architectural evaluation and are vital to reconstruction projects.

ANGKOR

2017Digitisation of Angkor

Actors: Iconem, the French Embassy in Cambodia, APSARA, and the CIC-Angkor

Perhaps the most iconic cultural heritage site of Southeast Asia, Angkor’s spectacular temples and sculptures dot 400 square kilometres in northern Cambodia. Vestiges of the great Khmer Empire are scattered throughout the archaeological park that is still home to many Cambodians. Millions of tourists visit the stunning temples each year, threatening the centuries-old UNESCO World Heritage site. Iconem scanned temples, sculptures, and gates for the French Embassy of Cambodia and the CIC Angkor in 2017 to further the site’s promotion and scientific study. Data was collected by both high and low altitude drone scans. The 3D model built from the drone data will facilitate archaeological research. Our team then photographed the monuments’ stone blocks with pole-mounted cameras to collect millimetre precise data for additional photorealistic 3D models.

BAELO CLAUDIA

Sketch by Myriam Fincker, archaeologist

2017Digitisation of Baelo Claudia

Actors: Iconem, the Institut de recherche sur l'architecture antique (IRAA), and the Casa de Velázquez with funding from the Fondation ARPAMED

Baelo Claudia, a city emblematic of Roman architecture, overlooks a bay near the coastal town Tarifa in southern Spain. This magnificent ancient city, its basilica, and its theatre endured an earthquake in the 3rd century C.E. and are affected by strong winds and erosion. In 2017, Iconem digitised the archaeological site’s grandest monuments for the Institut de recherche sur l’architecture antique and Casa de Velázquez. Our 3D model was constructed with data collected by drone and ground-level scans. Archival documents and technical drawings are integrated into the model to facilitate scientific research. The model is a digital scientific tool for studying the site’s current state, its degradation, and its buildings’ restauration. This digital replica can also be used to curate museum content for raising awareness of this Monumento Histórico Nacional designated site among the general public.

DELOS

Digitisation of the island of Delos

Digitisation of the island of Delos

Digitisation of the island of Delos

Launching the Ebee drone

Flyover of the island of Delos

2016Digitisation of the island of Delos

Actors: Iconem and the Ecole française d’Athènes

In 2016, Iconem started a project on the island of Delos, one of Greece’s most ancient cultural heritage sites. The mythological birthplace of Apollo and Artemis, Delos’s archaeological heritage dates as far back as the third millennium B.C.E. Iconem digitised the island for the Ecole française d’Athènes, recording the current state of its stunning mosaics and extensive ruins. Using small drone-planes, Iconem’s team scanned the entire island: its theatre, agora, and ancient villas. Ground level photographs taken with a multicamera pole were integrated with the drone images to build the final 3D model, which is used to create cross-sections and other architectural surveys to study the site for restoration. Iconem’s model is also an efficient and precise tool for measuring distances, area and volumes of this UNESCO World Heritage site. Finally, the extremely precise model allows people to remotely explore the remains of this incredible ancient capital of Mediterranean trade.

HYDERABAD

2017Digitisation of the Qutb Shahi Heritage Park

Actors: Iconem and the Aga Khan Trust for Culture

In June 2017, Iconem’s team travelled to southern India to scan an ensemble of ancient mausoleums. The Qutb Shahi Heritage Park in Hyderabad, India is a vast historic necropolis dating from the 16th-17th centuries. A project for the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, Iconem digitised the exterior of the tomb of Abdullah Qutb Shah, king of the Qutb Shahi dynasty; the exterior and interior of Kulsoom Begum’s mausoleum; and a “bird’s eye view” of the entire complex. Our team scanned the two burial sites, the compound’s other monuments, and their surroundings with drones and pole-mounted cameras to collect data for three 3D models. The two individual tombs were also documented with high-resolution, pole-mounted cameras to ensure an exceptionally high resolution. Our engineers merged the site-wide model with the two higher resolution 3D tomb models into one single 3D model. This multi-level data approach allows viewers to switch between large-scale overviews and details of the site’s unique architecture. These models can provide valuable information to restoration experts.

SAINT-ROMAN

Plan and section of the 3D model

Photorealistic rendering without and with texture (from left to right)

3D model of the abbey’s exterior

3D model of the abbey’s exterior

3D model of the abbey’s interior

3D model of the abbey’s interior

3D model of the abbey’s interior

Scanning the abbey’s interior by drone

Drone aerial view

2017Digitisation of Saint-Roman

Actors: Iconem and the Beaucaire Terre d’Argence municipalities

The impressive Saint-Roman cave abbey in the south of France was digitised by Iconem in 2017 for the Beaucaire Terre d’Argence municipalities (CCBTA). The abbatial church, winding corridors, and former hermit cells dug into the limestone of this protected historical monument date back to the Middle Ages. This true jewel of French cultural heritage is threatened by erosion and formerly by clandestine limestone mining. Iconem’s digitisation is vital to preparation for the monastery’s stabilisation and redevelopment by the CCBTA. Iconem carried out a drone and ground scan to best capture the site’s rocky façades and interiors. This 3D model is a key resource for archaeological study of the monastery as well as conservation and promotional work. Iconem’s model will also serve as a base for digital content so the general public and experts alike may remotely study Saint Roman in all its majesty.

The Cité de l’Architecture’s model of the Crac des Chevaliers, digitised in 3D

Detail in digital 3D of the Monumental Arch of Palmyra after destruction

The RMN-GP’s digital 3D model of a Sultan al-‘Adil II bowl

The RMN-GP’s digital 3D bronze lion model

Digital 3D model of the shrine of the Great Mosque of the Umayyads in Damascus, Syria

3D digitisation of a winged human-headed bull from the Louvre

Textures used for the 3D digital renderings

Layer arrangement to produce the exhibition poster

Exhibition opening invitation

Iconem’s Sites Eternels exhibition team

2016-2017Exhibition at the Grand Palais, Paris

Actors: The French Ministry of Culture and Communication, the Réunion des Musées Nationaux - Grand Palais (RMN-GP), the Louvre, Iconem, and UNESCO

Partners: Google Arts & Culture, the Leon Levy Foundation, Bank Of America, LVMH, the Fondation Total, the Caisse des Dépôts, the Fonds Khéops pour l'Archéologie, the American Friends of the Louvre, and the Syrian Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums (DGAM)

This unique exhibition, curated with the Réunion des Musées Nationaux and the Louvre, opened at Paris’s Grand Palais in December 2016 for three weeks. The exhibition, designed by Sylvain Roca, explored cultural heritage sites to raise awareness of the damage, pillaging, and even complete destruction, threatening them. It featured Iconem’s immersive 3D images of four great archaeological sites: Khorsabad in Iraq, the Great Mosque of the Umayyads of Damascus, Palmyra, and the Crac des Chevaliers in Syria. The 360° experience transported visitors to these sites endangered or destroyed by armed conflict. Archival documents, engravings, and photographs were woven into current 3D models to shed light on the sites’ deterioration over the centuries. Iconem’s digitally simulated reconstruction of the Monumental Arch of Palmyra and objects from the Louvre’s collection deepened visitors’ understanding of the threats to cultural heritage.

YANGON

2017Digitisation of the Yangon High Court Building

Actors: Iconem and the French Institute of Myanmar

The iconic Yangon High Court Building and its famous clock face dominate the skyline of Myanmar’s largest city. The monument and its revival Queen Anne-style are symbols of the city’s colonial past. The tower is still an important landmark for city residents. Our team digitised the tower for the French Institute of Myanmar in 2017. After drone and ground data acquisition, Iconem generated a photogrammetric 3D model of this Yangon City Heritage designated building. We also produced a video that highlighted the commonalities between the tower, designed by James Ransome, and the Saint-Jacques Tower in Paris, which Iconem also digitised. This video was presented during Yangon’s Mingalabar Festival, organised by the city and the French Institute.

Technology

We combine the latest in drone, laser, and photogrammetric technology with the power of super computers to produce the highest quality images and 3D models.

Our data meet our high technical standards for accuracy and consistency to ensure that our realistic 3D models are optimised for archaeological assessment, architectural analysis, and all media forms.

Philosophy

Since 2013, Iconem has specialised in digitising our world’s endangered cultural heritage sites in 3D. From grand, towering pyramids in Sudan, to the sacred temples of Angkor, these places are threatened, and our world’s rich cultural diversity with them. Our expert team works on-site in 21 countries, collaborating with our worldwide network of partners, to record archaeological and historical sites that are imperilled by looting, urbanisation, mass tourism, armed conflict, and climate change. Advocates for cultural heritage, we document humanity’s most precious places to ensure their preservation for future generations.Our mastery of the latest drone equipment and our expertise in photogrammetry, laser, and 3D technology enable us to create impeccable photorealistic digital models. We leverage our team’s and network’s extensive knowledge of archaeology, architecture, and their methods to build architectural 3D models of damaged or destroyed monuments. Our large-scale urban and rural 3D models facilitate the critical conservation and restoration work of cultural heritage experts. Our digital content curated for museum exhibitions immerses visitors in the treasured sites that represent the wealth of our planet’s cultural heritage.